I'll Be Your Best Friend
by Maran Zelde
Summary: Little Timon learns how to tell the difference between a friend and a mooch. Irony and foreshadowing ensue.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Disney owns Timon, Ma, Max, and I guess it owns Swifty and Flinchy, too. All other characters belong to me.

A/N: Yes, I'm starting another story, but this one will only have about three chapters. I just have to get this out of my system before I continue "The Search for Timon." As usual, this fic ties into my other LK fics, but it can stand on its own. But if anyone's curious, it takes place a few days after "The Fittest."

According to my research, ant larvae are among the meerkats' favorite foods, so they're a significant part of this story.

* * *

"Here, Timmy, I found a special treat for you!" Nina, Timon's mother, presented a pile of tiny white larvae on a leaf. She was quite proud, as if she had made them herself, but, to her credit, they _were_ almost impossible to find that time of year.

"Ant grubs!" Timon took the leaf. "Thanks, Ma."

Nina said that he was more than welcome, and that she had to go up for her sentry watch, and if he needed anything, he should look for his dad in the new lower north tunnel. "Stay out of trouble." She nuzzled him briefly and set off toward the nearest exit.

When Timon began to shove the larvae into his mouth, another kit came running round a bend in the tunnel. The kit, who was called Kijio, braked right in front of Timon and stared down at the food. Timon frowned and turned away from him.

"C'mon, Timon, lemme have some."

"No," Timon said firmly. "Ma dug these up just for me."

"Just one. You're not gonna miss one grub."

"I didn't think anyone could eat _just_ one."

"Well, _I_ can. Gimme one and I'll show ya."

Timon sighed. "Okay, just one and that's it!" He rummaged through the pile until he found the smallest one. "Here ya go."

Kijio popped the larva into his mouth and squished it once between his teeth before swallowing. "Okay, one ant grub. Great. I'm good to go," he said, mostly trying to convince himself.

Timon stood there watching. Kijio turned to walk away, but he immediately spun to face Timon again.

"Who am I kidding? I can't eat just one! I need more!"

"No, Kijio. I _told_ you that was it."

"So you're gonna make me suffer?"

"Jeez, get a grip," said Timon, trying out an expression he'd recently learned. "You're three and a half months old. And you call _me_ pathetic?"

"Did I say pathetic?"

"Uh, _yeah_, just this morning you did."

"Oh, you heard wrong. I actually said _par_thetic_."_

Timon knotted his brows. "_Par_thetic? What does _that _mean?"

"You don't know what parthetic means?" asked Kijio, feigning surprise.

"Course I do," Timon said defensively. "I was just checking to see if _you_ knew."

"Well duh, I wouldn't say it if I didn't know what it meant."

"Okay then."

"Okay." Then, after a beat, Kijio got back on topic. "So are you gonna give me some grubs?"

"The answer's still no, so leave me alone."

"Come _on! _Don't make me beg!"

Timon stared expectantly.

"Oh, all right," Kijio sighed. "Please, please can I have some grubs? I'll be your best friend," he added for good measure.

Timon's brown eyes grew wide with shock. "You really mean it?"

"Sure, whatever."

The younger kit thought for a moment. "It's a deal. How many do ya want?"

"Would it be pushing it to say all of them?"

"Pushing what?"

Not knowing what to say to that, Kijio tried again. "Can I have all of them?"

"No. But you can have half."

Kijio was satisfied with half, so Timon divided the pile down the middle, and Kijio took off with his share and without so much as a "thanks."

His twin brother Kumbwe ran into him as he gorged the lot. "Kijio, I was looking for - woah, are those ant grubs?"

"Mm mm," said Kijio through his full mouth. The twins were nearly identical with their fair hair and red-brown eyes, except that Kijio now had slime dribbling down his chin.

"Those _are_ ant grubs!" said Kumbwe. "Where'd you get 'em?"

Kijio swallowed and wiped his chin on his arm. "_Were_ ant grubs. I got 'em from Timon."

"What did you do?" Kumbwe's curiosity peaked. "Did you tell him to plant them in the ground so a grub tree would grow? Or did you use the old 'Look! A random carnivore!' trick?"

"Nothin' like that." Kijio sniggered. "Though that would've been funny. But all I did was beg."

Kumbwe raise an eyebrow. "Sounds too easy."

"I'm tellin' ya that's what happened."

"Hm...What did you say to him, exactly?"

"Oh, I think it was, 'Please can I have some grubs, I'll be your best friend.'"

Kumbwe widened his eyes in something akin to horror.

"What?" Kijio gave him an odd glance.

"You did _not_ tell him you'd be his best friend."

"Yeah, but, I mean...You don't think..."

"You _know_ he takes everything literally! I bet any moment now he'll come runnin' up wanting to do stuff with us and tag along everywhere we go."

Kijio matched his brother's horrified expression. "Chimvi on a stick. What are we gonna do?"

"I don't know about _we_, but _you_ can go tell him you were just kidding or something. Just tell him the truth and keep him out of our fur."

"No way am I gonna do that. He'll blab to his parents about it, and they'll tell Mom, and she'll make me do extra work."

"Okay, fine, I'll see if I can think of something else. But if he comes, I'm outta here."

"That's it! You're a genius!" said Kijio with a spark in his eyes.

"Tell me something I don't know."

"All we gotta do is avoid Timon for the rest of our lives! It's perfect."

Kumbwe frowned. "I don't think so, bro. The mob's big, but not that big. Sooner or later he's going to see us."

"Well, we can at least avoid him till we come up with a way to deal with him."

"Yeah, I guess that's the best thing to do for now," Kumbwe said with a nod.

ooo

It happened that long before Ma's watch was over, Kijio thought of a plan. "Ya know, Kumbwe, I think I can actually make this friendship thing work."

His brother stared at him as though he had grown a third eye.

"No, seriously. I figure havin' a best friend could be good for me."

"How in the name of mud do you figure _that_?" Kumbwe had never seen any point in having friends when he had a twin brother. He didn't think anyone else was worth his time, and he was certain no one else could appreciate his clever ideas.

"Well..." Kijio studied his claws. "I could tell you, but I'd rather show you. You game?"

Kumbwe blinked. "I really don't want anything to do with this, but I'm strongly curious."

"So that's a yes, then?"

Kumbwe answered in the affirmative, but stressed that he just knew he was going to regret this. The next step, then, was to find Timon, and they ended up spending more time looking for him than they had avoiding him. When they finally saw him in a crowded main tunnel, Kijio went right up to him and clapped him on the back.

"Hey Timmy! Can I call you Timmy?"

Timon grinned. "Only if I can call you Kijy."

"Timon it is, then. How's my best bud?"

"Great! I wasn't sure if you were serious about being my friend, 'cause my dad told me you probly just said it 'cause you wanted me to give you some grubs."

Kumbwe spoke up from beside his brother. "Oh, you told your dad?" He kept his voice casual, but he threw Kijio a meaningful glance.

"Yeah. Hey Dad!" called Timon. "Look who's here!"

"I just remembered, I have to clean my room." Kumbwe started to take off, but Kijio grabbed his wrist.

"But you'll miss all the fun, bro," he said with a look that clearly meant 'You better not ditch me.'

"Afternoon, boys," said Timon's father, Nate, as he approached the three kits.

"Look, Dad, Kijio's really my friend now!"

"Uh-huh." Nate eyed Kijio with well-deserved skepticism. "So, Kijio, the way I understand it, you agreed to be Timon's best friend if he would give you half his grubs. Is that right?"

Kijio kept a straight face as he answered, "It's not just that, sir. I was just tellin' Kumbwe that being best friends would be good for me and Timon."

"I see. Well then, by all means, start friending! But behave yourself. You never know if someone's watchin' you." Then, to his son, he said, "Don't forget to meet us for dinner under the old eastern tree."

Timon looked up at his father. "Is that...?"

"The opposite direction of sunset," Nate said kindly.

"That would be why they call it the morning side. Ow," said Kumbwe, as Kijio elbowed him.

"I'll be there," said Timon. "Hey, can Kijio come too? And Kumbwe, if he wants to?"

"I suppose so, as long as it's okay with their mom. I'll probably see her before then. You kids have fun." And he wove his way through the moving crowd and was lost from sight.

Kijio turned to his new "best friend." "So, Timon, you know best friends do nice things for each other, right?"

"Yeah." Timon raised his eyebrow. "That's why I invited you for dinner."

"Oh. Right." He suddenly looked very eager. "Do you think your mom will have more of those ant grubs?"

"I couldn't say. Come to think of it, I haven't eaten those since I was a little kit." He brightened. "But maybe she found a big nest of them and she's saving the rest for dinner."

Kijio told Timon he was probably right, and even Kumbwe began to think that having Timon as a friend wasn't such a bad idea after all.

And then, out of the throng came a familiar voice. "_There_ you boys are! Why haven't you changed the bedding yet? I told you to do it this _morning!_" Soon the twins' mother Jan stood before them with paws akimbo.

"Sorry Mom, we got a little sidetracked, but we'd be glad to do it, right away!"

Kumbwe muttered, "Laying it on a bit thick there, are - ow! I wish you'd stop doing that."

Jan narrowed her eyes. "You boys are up to something."

"Why is it always 'you boys'?" said Kumbwe. "I don't do _everything_ he does."

"Oh yes you do."

"She's right, ya know," Timon told Kumbwe. "You're like two legs on a grasshopper."

Kijio snapped his head toward Timon in surprise. "So you _do_ understand metaphors."

"That was a simile, not a metaphor," said Kumbwe. "A simile is when you say something is _like_ something else. A metaphor is when you say something _is_ something else."

"Ohh," said Kijio and Timon together, with understanding expressions. But after a pause, Timon said, "No, wait, I don't get it."

Jan tapped her foot. "Boys! What happened to 'I'll do it right away'? Do I need to teach you the definition of 'right away'? Because it sure doesn't mean 'after I stand around gabbing for an hour.'"

"Sorry, we're on it," said Kijio. "Let's go, guys."

Timon, realizing that "guys" included him too, said, "Oh, I wouldn't wanna get in your way while you clean your burrow."

Kijio put his paw on the redhead's shoulder and began to lead him toward his family's nest. "Don't be ridiculous, you won't get in the way. Actually, I was hoping you'd give us a paw. You know, since we're best friends and all."

"Well, I guess I could help a little," said Timon, with heavy reluctance. He was beginning to wonder when his new friend would do something nice for _him._

Jan frowned as she stared after the kits. It was plain that her boys were kissing up to Timon so he would help them with the job they were supposed to do by themselves. But before she could say anything, Swifty ran up and told her that Flinchy had accidentally dug past the water table and needed help filling in the wet hole. Duty called, but Jan would think of an extra chore for her sons to do later. Or maybe two or three.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I have a bad habit of not updating stories for several months. But I'm finally finished with this little thing. You might want to read the last couple of paragraphs of Chapter 1 to jog your memory.

I think most of us can relate to Timon. Actually, as I told one of the reviewers, I _fell _for "I'll be your best friend" when I was about seven. Honest to goodness. It took me a day or two to realize the kid didn't mean it.

* * *

When the twins arrived at their family's chamber, they flopped down on the nest, a flattened pile of old, dry grass. Timon walked in after them and lay at Kijio's left, and after a few moments of staring at the roof, he said, "Well this is relaxing. I could lie here all day."

"Yeah, right, let's just lay here and wait for the grass to magically clean itself," said Kumbwe.

Timon processed this statement. "You're being sarcastic, right?"

"Very good, Timon."

"Are you still being sarcastic?"

Kumbwe didn't answer, but after a moment, he said, "Okay, we should really get up now."

The kits reluctantly stood and gathered armfuls of dead grass. "Ya know," said Kijio, "if we had a really big leaf, we could just put all the grass on it and drag the whole thing up. That way we'd only have to make one trip."

Kumbwe rolled his eyes. "That'd be nice if leaves grew that big."

"You wouldn't even have to get new grass," said Timon. He turned to look at a few blades of grass which slipped out of his arms, but he didn't bother to pick them up. "You could just lie on the leaf instead."

"That wouldn't be comfortable, though," said Kijio.

"It would if you could figure out some way to hang it above the ground. Then it would feel like sleepin' on air." Timon sighed happily.

"Sleepin' on air?" said Kumbwe, furrowing his brow. "I don't get that one."

Kijio leaned toward him and muttered, "Neither do I. Just smile and nod, brother."

The three boys trudged up to the surface, where they stopped to gape. In front of them was a huge leaf, as long as an adult is from nose to tail and very wide. It was draped over four sticks stuck upright in the ground, and underneath this structure three smaller kits were playing. Their elder sister sat nearby, looking extraordinarily bored.

"Speak of the hyenas and they will appear." Kijio dropped his clump of grass. "You guys thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?"

"Yeah," said Timon, "I wonder if I can lie on top of that thing."

"That ain't even close to what I'm thinkin'."

"Well how am I supposed to read your mind? Ain't that Kumbwe's job?"

"Good point. Okay Kumbwe, tell him what I'm thinkin'."

Kumbwe blinked. "What did you say?"

"Never mind." Kijio put a paw over his eyes. "Let's just get the leaf and use it to move the bedding."

"Oh! Right," said Kumbwe, grinning at the prospect.

"Mind if I lie on it first?" asked Timon, his brown eyes shining.

"I guess not. But make it quick." Kijio, Kumbwe and Timon walked toward the smaller kits, who chatted excitedly.

"Yook what we found!" said a kit who had trouble saying some of her consonants. "Da wind byew it here from far 'way."

Her brother nodded. "Uh-huh, and look what we made! It's called a hema."

"That's silly," said Timon. "Why don't you call it a tent?"

The younger kits glanced at each other. "We like hema."

"It's nice, whatever it is," Kijio tried, but he had a difficult time saying anything more as the little kits babbled away. They pointed out that the light shining through the leaf made them look green, and they were pretending to be frogs, and the older boys were standing in the water and should watch out for crocs and water snakes, and then they mostly just said, "Ribbit!"

"So you're frogs…in a tent?" asked Timon with a raised eyebrow.

"No, we're frogs in a hema," said one of the smaller kits, bouncing up and down.

Timon shook his head. "You guys are weird."

"Okay, listen to me," said Kijio. "We need to borrow your leaf for a little while. We'll bring it right back."

The small kits shared another look. "You can pay wif it yater."

Kijio scratched his blond head. "Can you run that by me again?"

"She said you can play with it later," said the big sister, narrowing her eyes at Kijio.

"Yeah, when we're done wif it."

"Okay," said Kijio, "so when will you be done with it?"

Her brother shrugged. "I dunno, probally when it's time for dinner."

"By then it'll be too late," said Kumbwe. "We really need it right now."

"Okay, you can have it when we're done," the kit repeated calmly, and they went on playing.

"But we-" Kijio began to object, but Kumbwe cut him off.

"Hey, I know a fun game you guys can play with the leaf." He gave the little ones a smile that could cut iron.

"Really? What kind of game?"

"It's called, uh, leaf race. You grab the leaf and run as fast as you can to my nest, put all the grass on the leaf, take the whole thing outside and jump in it!" He tried to make this sound exciting, and, strangely, it worked on the younger kits. They leapt up and clasped their tiny paws.

"That sounds fun!"

Timon was disgusted. "That's not fun! That's _work!_" He took no notice of the twins' sharp looks.

The elder sister was disgusted for a different reason. "My brother and sisters are _not_ going to jump in your soiled bedding! Ugh!"

"Aw, but I _wanna!_"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"I'll be your best friend."

"No."

Timon blinked and shook his head. "Why would you say that to your sister?"

"Oh, that's just what you say when you want someone to do something for you," the smaller kit said offhandedly.

"_What?_" Timon turned toward the twins with a glare that would have been steely if Timon had only known what steel was. The brothers tried to fend it off with guilty grins.

"You know what? You two are nothin' but a couple of _mooches!_" He threw his armful of grass at Kijio, but unfortunately the pile fell apart before it reached him. Then he stormed off in a random direction, which happened to be east.

ooo

Nothing escaped the watchful eye of Timon's mother on sentry duty. It caught every working adult, wandering kit, wayfaring grazer, and oh what a pretty cloud…

It also spied a leaf of unusual size, and the kits standing around it, and the redheaded one who threw grass at one of the others and stalked away. Nina wanted to talk to him and find out what made him angry, but she couldn't let anything distract her on her watch. Feeling torn, she turned away from her son and stared at the grass and sky.

ooo

Because meerkats have very little weight, it is difficult for them to stomp, but they sometimes try it anyway - especially the kits. Timon slammed each foot down with all his might, raising up a little dust cloud but making almost no noise. As he pounded along, he heard a familiar voice.

"Hey Timmy, what's up?"

He looked up at his dad. "You, I guess." Just because he was angry didn't mean he had completely lost his sense of humor.

"Yeah, that's better than the alternative," Nate said with a little laugh.

Timon didn't know what the alternative was, but he put that out of his mind for the moment. "Ma said you were in the lower something-or-other tunnels."

Nate chuckled again, not unkindly. "I was, but I'm taking a short break."

"Is your ankle bothering you again?"

"A little." He shrugged. "So what's going on with you? I see you stomping over here like a furry little elephant."

Timon glared through the cloud of dust. "You were right about Kijio, Dad. He never wanted to be my friend. He just wanted me to give him my grub and do stuff for him."

His father winced. "I'm sorry, Timmy." He felt guilty for leaving his naïve son alone with the little brats. "What did he do?"

"He wanted me to clean out his nest, so I started to help him just to show him I was a nice guy, and then when we went outside he tried to take this _huge _leaf from the three little kits. If that wasn't enough, Kumbwe tried to make _them _clean out the nest. He told them it was a game, and they actually fell for it! Can you believe it? I'm glad I'm not that much of an ignoramus."

"Where did you hear that word?" asked Nate.

"Uncle Max."

"Ah, I should have guessed. So then what? Did the little kits clean out the nest?"

"Nah, their sister wouldn't let them." He put a finger to his chin. "At least, I don't _think _she'll let them."

"Why don't we go check on 'em?"

Timon shrugged. He was feeling somewhat better now that he had talked to his dad. "I dunno, why not?" The kit led his father back west, although he was not consciously aware of the direction he was heading.

When they came to the leaf, Nate marveled at its size, while the little kits began to babble again. But Kijio and Kumbwe were gone.

"They took off for the tunnels right after you left," said the older girl. "Hopefully the Terrible Two won't give us any more trouble."

ooo

"So what's the plan now?" Kijio and Kumbwe scurried in the long, dark tunnel that led to their burrow, although they had no reason to hurry other than the fact that they were agitated.

"I don't know," said Kumbwe, clutching his head. "Lately it seems every time we try to get out of work we end up having to do more and more!"

"Our plan would have worked if the kits' older sister hadn't been babysitting."

"Yeah, why can't kits be free to run around by themselves?"

"Maybe it's to keep them from getting into _trouble._"

The brothers winced at the sound of their mother's voice. "Oh hi Mom, we were just on our way to get another load of grass."

Their mother tapped her foot. "Only because you couldn't get the other kits to do it, I'm sure. Don't think I didn't hear what you just said." She grabbed her sons' paws. "Now I'm going to watch you finish your chore, and then you're going to spend the rest of the evening digging with me."

"We have to dig the _rest_ of the evening?" Kijio groaned. "But aren't we going to eat?"

"Of course we'll stop to eat," said his mother, a little surprised. "Don't take things so literally."

ooo

At dinner, Timon was disappointed to discover that his mother had not found any more ant grubs, so they had to settle for some locusts and millipedes. After their hunger was satiated, Timon brought his parents to the gigantic green leaf that provided the answer to his daydreams. The leaf was now deserted, so he rushed toward it and tried to pull himself up onto it, but he only succeeded in pulling the leaf down to the ground.

"What are you doing, honey?" asked Nina.

"I was trying to get on top of it so I can hang above the ground."

Putting his hand to his chin, Nate walked up to the leaf. "I think I see what you're trying to do. Here, lemme see if I can fix this up for ya." He tied the leaf's stem to the top of one of the sticks; then he found a long white root and used it to tie the other end of the leaf to another stick. Timon climbed onto the suspended leaf and grinned when it held. Then he lay back and sighed. It felt even better than he imagined – almost like he could float away.

"That is so creative, Timmy!" Nina said with feeling. "I could never think of something like that." She ruffled his hair; then began to comb it with her fingers.

"Ma," Timon complained, sitting up.

"Well you've got half the desert in there." She leaned closer to Timon's head as he pulled away.

Nate smiled. "Is your day getting better, Son?"

"I guess so. But I wish I could make a real friend." The kit looked down, ears drooping.

"You will, believe me," said Nate. "You're a good, straightforward kid, and soon people will learn to appreciate that."

"Ya really think so?"

Nate gave him a confident grin. "I don't think, I _know._"

* * *

A/N: Hema is Swahili for tent, in case you were wondering. Anyway, that's the end; hope you liked it. 


End file.
